High street sales stage a surprise recovery

By James Hall

12:01AM GMT 04 Dec 2005

There has been an unexpected pick-up in retail sales, which rose in November for the first time in eight months.

Figures released tomorrow by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG, the accountancy firm, will reveal that like-for-like sales grew by around 0.3 per cent last month compared with last November. The BRC's monthly figure was last in positive territory in March.

The figures will be welcomed by retailers who feared a pre-Christmas meltdown and fly in the face of last week's survey from the CBI which suggested that November was the high street's worst month for 22 years.

"No one should run away with the thought that Christmas will not be tough. But there is a difference between challenging and apocalyptic," said Kevin Hawkins, the director-general of the BRC.

Retailers said conditions were not as bad as feared. "We're in the sort of area we thought we'd be in. It's OK out here," said Philip Green, the owner of the Arcadia and Bhs retail groups.

"Is it the finest Christmas known to man? No. But it is not looking like a disaster either," said the chief executive of a large variety chain.

Some retailers are doing particularly well. J Sainsbury, the supermarket, saw like-for-like sales of its TU clothing range rise by 100 per cent last week compared with last year, although this included a seasonal promotion.

However, the relatively benign environment has not deterred a raft of retailers from launching a series of promotions this weekend.